The relationship between childhood adversity and adult personality revealed by network analysis

Childhood adversity is known to influence personality development. Studies suggest that distinct types of childhood adversities have differential effects on personality dimensions. However, different types of adversity often co-occur, and personality dimensions are strongly interconnected.

The aim of this study was to use a network approach to analyze the interrelationships between different types of childhood adversity and diverse personality dimensions integratively.

We used previously collected data on 142 alcohol dependent patients and 102 healthy controls.

The participants completed the Interview for Traumatic Events in Childhood, the Parental Acceptance and Rejection Questionnaire and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Outcomes on the subscales of these instruments were included in the network analysis.

The resulting network showed strong connections between different types of childhood adversity, and between the different temperaments and characters of personality. Childhood adversity, mainly physical abuse and maternal rejection, was connected to most personality dimensions, except for reward dependence. Physical abuse showed the highest centrality measures, indicating a central, important role in the network.

These findings confirm that different types of childhood adverse experiences often co-occur, and suggest that specifically physical and emotional abuse, and maternal rejection might play a prominent role in shaping personality.